Need a car for D-Day and Vimy?

In 2005 we took train to Caen, drove to Mt. St. Michel and stayed overnight and then toured Normandy, Bayeux and area for three days. We dropped the car off in Rouen which proved to be a good two day stop for us. Train from Rouen to Paris is easy and convenient. Rouen also permitted us to visit Giverny, the home of Monet.
George, Pittsburgh

Heather, do you mean to say Arras instead of Arles? Just wondering since the Vimy Memorial is close to Arras. Arles seems out of sorts with the route you described. I would want a car to visit Normandy, especially if you intend to visit all of the D-Day beaches. If you only intend to visit Juno where the Candadians landed you would probably be ok with public transportation. A car is so convenient for that area though and to me would be the way to go. If you are going to be in that area for a week you would probably get a better weekly rate than a daily rate. Pick it up In Arras or close by and drive on to Normandy. As far as driving to CDG to turn in the car it would not be horrendous to drive that close to Paris but it would not be my choice. Maybe turn in your car at Caen and train into Paris. There are rental companies located right across from the train station in Caen. Another option would be to drive to Everux and turn in you car there. Everux is not that far out of Paris and would be easier to navigate than trying to go to CDG. If you have a GPS with Europe maps on it I would advise taking it with you. Also, a good road map but you can purchase the road map when you get there. Check with Autoeurope for rates.

If you're going from Bruges to Vimy and then to Normandy, you could take the train to Lille, pick up a car there, use it to get to Vimy and Normandy, and then drive to Paris. There are several car drop off points on the far west side of Paris where traffic shouldn't be much of an issue. Or for even less traffic, drop off the car in Nanterre (a western suburb) and take the RER A into Paris. No need to go to CDG.